To: U.S. Senator X, Member of Senate Foreign Relations Committee
Subject: Evaluation of President Truman's decision not to extend diplomatic recognition to the People's Republic of China.
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Summary of Truman's decision: President Truman's position on the recognition of the PRC was determined by Cold War considerations. Two days after the formal inauguration of the government of the PRC (Oct. 1, 1949), Truman's State Department stated that the U.S. would not recognize the PRC "without first consulting Congress" (China, 1980, 87). Of course, there was no support for such recognition. The administration then set requirements for recognition which were so vague that they could easily be used to deny that recognition, especially the requirement that the PRC "must recognize its international obligations" (China, 1980, 87). In any case, the tentative refusal to recognize the PRC became a solidified part of U.S. Cold War policy throughout Truman's administration.
Definition of U.S. Strategic Interests: Strategic interests in 1949 were not basic to the decision to withhold recognition from the PRC. In fact, the Communist triumph in China in 1949 had been expected by the Truman Administration since 1946 and "did not create any immediate danger to the U.S." (Freedland, 1972, 340, 11). The growing support for the Nationalist Chinese regime on the island off the Chinese coast was meaningless, except in ideological terms. Other nations, including U.S. ally Great Britain, recognized the PRC. To not recognize China was a self-destructive move on the part of Truman, whose administration would be paralyzed on the foreign front by Cold War rhetoric and anti-communist mania. Sen. Joe McCarthy began his insane witch hunt early in 1950, and although Truman harshly criticized McCarthy, his foreign policy toward China was nevertheless shaped by the same Cold war obsession which gave birth to
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